Strains of music rose from the
waters, and never were the circumstances of war exhibited in a more
picturesque form.
For two days the expedition sailed on, and then a change of a sudden and
disastrous kind took place.
"What is all this bustle about?" Cuthbert said to Cnut. "The sailors are
running up the ladders, all seems confusion."
"Methinks," said Cnut, "that we are about to have a storm. A few minutes
ago scarce a cloud was to be seen; now that bank over there has risen
halfway up the sky. The sailors are accustomed to these treacherous
seas, and the warnings which we have not noticed have no doubt been
clear enough to them."
With great rapidity the sails of the fleet came down, and in five
minutes its whole aspect was changed; but quickly as the sailors had
done their work, the storm was even more rapid in its progress. Some of
the ships whose crews were slower or less skillful than the others were
caught by the gale before they could get their sails snug, and the great
sheets of white canvas were blown from the bolt-ropes as if made of
paper, and a blackness which could almost be felt covered the sea, the
only light being that given by the frothing waters.
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